Chapter 17: Identity of the Deceased Confirmed! The Ability of the Criminal Investigation Tech Department!!!

From receiving the police report and discovering the body to finding the breakthrough and capturing the first suspect, the time spent didn’t even exceed two hours.

Moreover, this case belonged to the type of hard-to-crack “river dumping” murder, making the speed even more impressive.

This efficiency undoubtedly left Xu Changsheng in awe, and he couldn’t help but admire Su Ming’s terrifying logical and deductive abilities.

Even without conducting interviews, identifying the victim’s identity, or retrieving the victim’s social connections, Su Ming was able to deduce the case based purely on his observation and interpretation of the victim’s body. His skill was nearly on par with that of a forensic expert.

In fact, many forensic experts only focus on determining the cause of death, and probably don’t have Su Ming’s strong logical reasoning skills.

No wonder Su Ming scored full marks in the criminal investigation exam. The Huaihai Criminal Investigation Team had truly found a gem after all these years.

…

At Xu Yiguo’s home, during his tearful confession, two luxury rings, a Cartier women’s watch, and the latest Apple phone were quickly found.

These items were almost identical to what Su Ming had previously speculated, further proving the terrifying nature of Su Ming’s crime-solving talent.

The rings and the watch, though expensive, couldn’t immediately help identify the victim. What was most crucial was fixing the water-damaged Apple phone.

Su Ming put the items into plastic bags and looked at Xu Changsheng beside him, offering his advice.

“Brother Sheng.”

“The victim’s belongings are not cheap, but she was wearing counterfeit clothes. I think it’s likely that…”

“These rings, watches, and such were gifts from someone. This case is probably a revenge-driven crime of passion. Identifying the victim is the most important task right now.”

“As for Xu Yiguo…”

“In my judgment, he doesn’t know the identity of the murderer. He’s just a trashy opportunist who was greedy for money, even daring to take the victim’s belongings.”

“If we want to solve the case quickly, we shouldn’t waste too much time on Xu Yiguo. Let’s fix the phone as soon as possible.”

Xu Changsheng nodded in agreement.

Just looking at Xu Yiguo’s current fearful and cowardly behavior, it was clear…

If he had any information about the murder, he would have probably already blurted it out in an attempt to earn merit and shorten his sentence.

Without further hesitation, Xu Changsheng quickly scanned the room to ensure nothing was overlooked, then waved his hand decisively.

“Let’s go, team, pack up!”

“Once we return, I’ll have the tech department fix the phone right away!”

Murder cases leave no time to waste.

The police car, escorting Xu Yiguo, quickly left the scene.

The follow-up matters were left to the security police to handle, striving to minimize the case’s impact.

However, no matter how much the impact was reduced, it was clear that the residents near the Huainan River would be discussing the case and Xu Yiguo for the next few weeks.

…

At the Huaihai Criminal Investigation Team.

Since Xu Yiguo was deemed to have no further value in the case, he was immediately taken to the interrogation room for confession and detailed questioning by other detectives.

Meanwhile, the tech department was working to fix the victim’s phone.

Because the latest model of the Apple phone had waterproof features, repairing it wasn’t too difficult, even after being submerged for so long.

While waiting for the phone to be repaired, Xu Changsheng and Su Ming entered a dedicated crime-solving conference room to discuss other breakthroughs in the case.

Wang Hu went off to learn how to repair water-damaged phones and began his transition to the criminal investigation tech department.

In the meeting room, Su Ming took a sip from a bottle of mineral water and pointed at a plastic bag containing small fragments on the table, speaking softly.

“Brother Sheng.”

“These leather fragments were found in the victim’s manicure. I think it likely represents the area where the victim was strangled.”

“Because when someone is strangled, there’s usually some time to resist violently. Even though if the resistance fails…”

“In just a few seconds, they will lose consciousness due to lack of blood to the neck. But it’s still enough time to leave behind certain evidence.”

“Like this piece of leather.”

“If we had to guess where the victim’s manicure would have caught the leather, it’s most likely in a car, on a sofa, or a bed.”

“These places all have a bit of intimacy, so the victim could only have gone to such places with someone they had a close relationship with.”

“Normally, I think we just need to wait for the phone to be fixed and confirm if anyone had contact with the victim recently. We might be able to identify the criminal suspect.”

“But…”

“Because of the material of the leather, I now have another theory…”

As an experienced veteran detective, Xu Changsheng was naturally very sensitive to all kinds of clues and details.

But when Su Ming brought up the plastic bag and pointed out the leather fragment found in the victim’s manicure, Xu Changsheng immediately deduced that the victim and the murderer knew each other.

Such terrifying deductive ability and sharp thinking made Xu Changsheng quietly gasp in surprise.

“Based on experience.”

“We can now basically confirm that the victim and the murderer knew each other. This wasn’t a random act of crime.”

“Su Ming, go ahead.”

“From this piece of leather, what other clues have you found?”

Clearly, after witnessing Su Ming’s astonishing performance in catching an A-grade fugitive and cracking this case, Xu Changsheng no longer saw Su Ming as a rookie. Instead, he treated him as an equal with whom he could discuss the case and share experiences.

Su Ming didn’t act mysterious; he immediately shared his reasoning.

“According to our previous speculation.”

“The victim’s economic condition wasn’t great, but she wore high-quality counterfeit clothes to maintain appearances. Yet, her jewelry and watch were genuine.”

“This likely means…”

“The victim used her own packaging to obtain those expensive items from some wealthy person.”

“And this leather fragment in the plastic bag, from a simple visual inspection and material analysis, is made of very cheap synthetic leather. Most wealthy people wouldn’t use this.”

“This suggests…”

“The murderer and the person who gave the victim the jewelry are likely not the same person. There are at least two men involved with the victim, and this is most likely a revenge-driven crime of passion!”

At this moment, Xu Changsheng fell silent, understanding what Su Ming meant.

The silence was not a disagreement with Su Ming’s judgment but an awed realization.

It was almost unimaginable…

How Su Ming was able to deduce that at least two men were involved with the victim, just from such a small piece of leather!

Such reasoning and logical ability were frightening beyond belief!

At that moment, Wang Hu walked into the meeting room, holding the repaired phone with excitement.

“The phone is fixed!”

“We’ve confirmed the victim’s identity!!”